M.S.: Check

So, I managed to get my master’s degree yesterday. I gave a talk on research that I did last winter on “automated icebreakers” to stimulate conversations in online communities. It was a closed talk – just two profs from the CS department (Joe and Carlis) and a prof from the school of management (Mani) were there to listen and assign a boolean rating to my performance. They had interesting comments and questions, so I only made it through about half of my talk in the allotted time. Carlis swung by today to tell me: “that’s a good thing – that means your work is interesting”. But he also told me “make sure you get through your talk in oral prelims” (the next of many hurdles in the path to a PhD).

Done: classes, TAing, written prelims, M.S.
Todo: teach a class, internship (?), oral prelims, final defense, find a job

I’m not getting a cape and gown or attending the graduation ceremony. However, all parties are welcome to purchase beer or pizza for me in celebration.

Max

¡The Salsa Police!

While Max engaged in comparative pizza analysis at home, I showcased my unquestionably rusty and somewhat antiquated ultimate Frisbee skills (apparently throws to no one are out these days) on the road with some of the classiest players I’ve known.  Our team of Carleton alums and students gathered in Naperville, IL, for Central Mixed Regionals, where we went 6-2 to secure a back-door bid to Nationals.  How fun!

Team photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxharp3r/tags/salsapolice/ and http://sixfoottwoinches.com/photos/2006-Regionals (thanks to Josh Wilhelm)

Highlights:

• playing with my talented sister for the first time
• previewing Syzygy 2007: these ladies have speed, smarts, and spirit that will dominate the college scene this spring
• feeling grateful-yet again-to Eric and Allon for the introduction to cleats, discs, and WhupAss back in 1995

LAN Party

Shilad hosted a LAN party at his apartment last night.  Unarguably the highlight of the evening was the consumption of four large Pizzas (capital P) from Giordano’s pizzeria in Chicago.  One slice of this Pizza probably contains 60-70% as much cheese as an entire pizza that I assemble from parts.  I ate a Davanni’s deep-dish for dinner tonight to compare the imports to the local fare (Davanni’s and Green Mill are the only acceptable deep-dish pie shops in town, in my opinion).  Sadly, it is true that deep Pizza from Chicago tastes better then deep pizza from Minneapolis.

Oh, and the gaming!  We played DotA, where the other team (headed by MinMax) predictably won every game.  There were a bunch of new players in attendance, which is promising for future gatherings.  Plenty of juvenile humor – good times.

Cindy’s Birthday Trip

We celebrated my 30th on the CAMBA (Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association) off-road bike trails near Cable, WI. It was fantastic riding; the trails offer a variety of terrain and scenery, are well mapped, and, as we discovered by mistake, accurately rated. Let’s just say we prefer “intermediate” over “advanced technical” riding…or in simpler terms: we like riding our bikes, not walking them. Joe, your Twin Cities area trail maintenance efforts came to mind as we noticed the exceptional conditions of these trails. Hats off to you and other volunteers who make birthday adventures like this possible and fun.

Other gems of note…

for walking: Cable Natural History Trail

for sleeping: Cable Nature Lodge

for drinking: Spotted Cow Ale

Photos are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxharp3r/tags/wisconsin2006/